Star Trek Just Turned A Classic Monster Into The Franchise's Big New Villain
Star Trek has rejuvenated villains before, butStrange New Worlds just transformed one classic enemy from punchline to pure evil. Star Trek's Gorn debuted in 1967's «Arena» episode, where Captain Kirk famously did battle against his lizard counterpart from another ship. The reptilian rascals have featured in Star Trek since, but never evolved into a recurring franchise baddie like the Klingons or Romulans — despite being just as visually iconic and culturally important. Quite the opposite, the Gorn became something of a Star Trek joke, endlessly parodied and lampooned, even appearing on a couch alongside William Shatner for a 2013 video game commercial.
Klingons, Romulans, Borg, and Khan have all enjoyed an onscreen presence through different Star Trek generations. The Gorn stayed stuck known as «the lizard Captain Kirk beat up.» Plenty of Gorn-based Easter eggs have been dropped (not all of which make sense) and many a joke has been made at their expense (see Star Trek: Lower Decks), but actual proper storylines have been in short supply for Kirk's cold-blooded pals. Strange New Worlds has now completely rewritten Star Trek's Gorn rule book, transforming these oft-mocked tongue-clickers into the galaxy's newest (or, indeed, oldest) massive villains.
Related: Strange New Worlds Secretly Repeats A Classic Star Trek Episode
In Star Trek: The Original Series, the Gorn were hostile to the Federation in a territorial sense. Both sides typically avoided each other, meaning contact between Starfleet and Gorn remained minimal. Kirk even speculated that the warriors might've been acting in self-defense. According to Strange New Worlds, the sole reason Gorn are an unknown quantity is because so few survivors are left alive to tell
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